Honey Goat Cheese Brownies

Goat cheese brownies with honey are rich, dense, indulgent brownies. They make a perfect holiday food gift or dessert for a special occasion.

We’re cruising right along into Week 3 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats! We have had some great participation by the other bloggers and a TON of new recipe ideas. I hope you’ve been enjoying them as much as I have!

In case you’re joining us for the first time this week, here’s a brief rundown of how it works. Each week, starting today and for the next 12 weeks, I and a bunch of other bloggers will be sharing some of our favorite holiday treats with you. The idea is that not only will you get a lot more recipe ideas, but ideally you can make up these treats ahead of time and freeze them. Then, you will have goodies ready to go for gift-giving, hostess gifts, and even your own holiday tables. Be sure to check out our Pinterest board for all the great ideas too—it’s a great way to keep track of your favorites.

This week, I’m sharing with you a honey goat cheese brownies recipe that I found in one of those holiday special baking magazines.

I have far too many, but still, I cannot resist the newest one each year. I found this recipe for Goat Cheese and Honey Brownies in the Better Homes and Gardens Special issue. Now my family was puzzled by that strange sounding combination, but since I like all of those things, I wanted to give them a try. And I’m glad I did, because these turned out great. I will let you know that they are a denser bar and almost fudge-like. But I like fudge, so I was ok with that too!

Like last week’s Toffee Bars, I do like a good bar cookie or dessert recipe. Just mix up the ingredients, spread in a pan, bake, cut and serve. Easy! And it means less time in the kitchen with big payoff too. These goat cheese brownies were a huge hit with my local blogging friends at one of our monthly meetings, and I love them too. My family thinks they are so-so, but the brownies are pretty rich, so maybe that’s why. These are definite keepers in my book!

Heat oven to 325°. Line a 9×13 baking dish with foil, leaving some foil hanging over the ends so you can lift the brownies out of the pan when cool to cut. Spray foil with cooking spray; set pan aside.

In a medium heavy saucepan heat and stir chocolate and the 3 tablespoons butter over low heat until chocolate melts. Remove from heat. Set aside to cool while you prepare the rest of the brownie batter.

To make the filling, combine goat cheese and 2 tablespoons of softened butter in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add ¼ cup sugar; beat until fluffy. Add ¼ cup flour, honey, and ONE egg. Beat well and set aside. Wash and dry beaters thoroughly.

For the batter, add the remaining 2 eggs to a large bowl. Beat at medium speed until frothy. Add 1¼ cup sugar, the water, and the vanilla. Beat well. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and beat well. Stir in 1 cup flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Stir in almonds.

Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan. Spread the goat cheese mixture over the chocolate batter. Drop mounds of the remaining chocolate batter on top of the goat cheese mixture. Marble the chocolate and goat cheese batters by dragging a knife through the batter to swirl.

Bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until the center is set. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool. If desired, frost brownies with Honey and Cream Cheese Frosting. Using the edges of the foil, lift uncut brownies out of pan. Cut into bars.

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Be sure to check out all the other bloggers who are participating this week in the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats blog hop… you’ll have no excuse of “I don’t know what to make!” And if you’re a blogger and want to join in on the fun, check out this post for the form to fill out to start baking along with us! Lastly, don’t forget to follow our Pinterest board to keep track of all the yummy recipes.

Brenda, I finally got my act together to participate this week! I love this blog hop so much, thank you for being the brilliant mastermind behind it. I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t like goat cheese but everyone else I know would go gaga over these brownies. Thanks for the tip re: the pizza cutter. Why didn’t I ever think of doing that before?

I found myself stirring around in blogland today, and discovered your fun blog…and this great series! I’m so excited to see all the lovely treats that will be coming in the weeks ahead. What a great idea!